Portable sink apparatus are known and have been in use for many years. For example a Herbert U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,376 discloses a portable sink that is arranged for ease of transportation and storage. The sink includes a central housing having respective lower and upper housings positioned on opposite sides of the central housing. As disclosed the upper housing includes a fluid reservoir structure arranged for orthogonal orientation relative to the central housing, with a faucet member permitting fluid flow upon pivoting of the faucet relative to a floor cavity within the upper housing floor. A lower housing includes an upper housing reservoir in communication with a sink within the central housing for storage and subsequent disposal of fluid within the lower housing.
A further approach to portable sinks is disclosed in a Wright U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,676. The Wright patent discloses a portable sink having foldable legs and a pump member to receive water from available water supplies and to direct such water to a faucet and to an underlying sink. The sink is arranged for unfolding of the legs and a wing plate for ease of positioning the table relative to an underlying support surface.
A more recent approach to portable sinks is disclosed in a Patterson U.S. Pat. No. 6,959,460. The Patterson patent discloses a portable wash basin that includes a sink for receiving fresh water for permitting a user to wash. The sink defines an open top for the reception of fresh water so that the user is permitted to wash therein. A container is disposed adjacent to the sink for containing the fresh water and a pump is operably connected to the container for pumping the fresh water from the container into the sink. A lid is secured to the sink such that when the lid is disposed in an open position access to the sink by the user is permitted and when the lid is disposed in a closed position, the lid covers the sink.
Notwithstanding the above, it is presently believed that there is a need and a potential commercial market for an improved portable sink for the handicapped in accordance with the present invention. There should be a market for such sinks because they have a supply of clean water, a storage tank for dirty water and a wash basin. The sinks incorporate a gravity flow system that eliminates the need for a pump and has a depressible one-way valve that prevents dirty water from entering the wash basin. Further, the portable sinks in accordance with the present invention are of durable construction and are relatively inexpensive to manufacture. The sinks also include foldable legs and are relatively compact for storage and transportation that facilitates dumping the dirty water and refilling the clean water tank. These and other advantages of the invention will become obvious from the following description of the invention.